Laurence Fearnley – 2007

In a space of nine years, Laurence Fearnley has had six novels published: The Sound of Her Body (1998); Room (2000); Delphine's Run (2003); Butler's Ringlet (2004); Degrees of Separation (2006) and Edwin + Matilda, which came out in 2007, when she was the Burns Fellow. Butler's Ringlet and Edwin + Matilda form part of an Otago-Southland trilogy. During her Burns year Fearnley wrote the final part, 'Mother's Day', which is due to be published by Penguin in 2009. Not only is her notebook on that work displayed, but Fearnley also reveals in a separate note something of her work pattern and schedules.

Laurence Fearnley, 'During My Year as Burns Fellow'. Typescript. 2007. Private Collection; ___, cover for Edwin + Matilda. Auckland: Penguin, 2007. Private Collection; ___, Notebook for 'Mother's Day'. 2007. Private Collection.